Alec surveyed the landscape outside the window, arms crossed over his chest with a flash of discontent skating by the blank light of the attack – which was all we could call it as Alec hadn't given us any more information – Aro had given him instructions to read the Cullens in on the current threat assessment.

He had watched me when I entered the room, and it was as if a part of him didn't want me to hear what he had to relay. I did not know whether it was because he thought it would scare me or out of some misguided protective instinct. Whatever it was, he looked away the instant our eyes met, and I remained in the dark.

We were gathered around the family room in the house. A well-loved light blue piano was in the corner, leaving room for the sitting area. Emmett had claimed it, leaning on top of the instrument and flexing his wrists impatiently.

My eyes moved through the rest of the coven like a checklist, yielding to my bias and picking Jasper out next. The blond stood stoically in the doorway, lost in contemplation. Alice appeared behind him not a moment later, moving a phone from her ear and slipping it into her pocket. She placed a hand on Jasper's forearm. He tilted his head down to her as the girl nodded and smiled reassuringly at him, their own non-verbal language. I didn't miss the glance she sent my way, as if she knew something I didn't. I wondered just how much.

Esme had set a cup of tea in front of me before sitting on the loveseat opposite. The mug was thick, the kind that wouldn't shatter into tiny pieces if you dropped it. I didn't touch it for fear that it might. Still, the gesture was more than appreciated, and I hoped I'd communicated it well enough with a mere "thank you."

Alec was right; the Cullens were very good with humans.

Carlisle and Rosalie were the last to enter. He greeted his wife directly across from me, and to my surprise, Rosalie proceeded to join me on the couch without a word. Despite the new arrivals, the silence prevailed, and I allowed myself to check in with our storyteller.

Like a moody teenager, he knew he could avoid his orders no longer. "What do you want to know?" Alec aimed his question at Carlisle, but it seemed to open questions up to the other Cullens. Before anyone could reply, Carlisle responded.

"Why don't you start at the beginning. Aro has shared only what he deemed to be necessary details."

Alec responded indignantly, "I am to answer questions, not tell bedtime stories–"

"Alec." The scolding came naturally but unexpectedly from my throat. It was almost as if he were testing their loyalty. Though Aro did not seem to doubt it, Alec had made it crystal clear that he did not have faith in the Cullens. Even if he'd been forced to trust them with our lives, but he knew I wanted answers as well.

He stared right back at me until, to my immense surprise, he faced around and gave the Cullens his full attention. He delved right in, "we began receiving reports nearly a year ago regarding small groups of newborns, untrained and careless, appearing in small provinces in northern Africa and spanning well into Austria. Mere nuisances, but a suspicious increase nonetheless. Our guards would clear one collection, only for another to rise in the following weeks.

"It became predictable, but we were unprepared when one of our scouting teams was attacked. A single guard returned with a taunt from his assailants that claimed we were 'missing a few'." There were a few perplexed looks around the room, but I lifted my chin. Alec was sharing the details I had only guessed at when these events occurred, and so much had happened since then, I could hardly remember. Surely, the Cullens had no need for this much detail. Was he doing it for me?

"It was not until we managed to capture one of the newborns' creators that we understood the message. His name was Zafir, and he and other vampires had been creating newborns, keeping a favourite, and leaving their mess for us."

Jasper's voice was much more profound, darker than I was prepared for, "they're building an army."

"Selecting an army," Alec concluded. Some faces in the room fell in mourning for the lives of innocents. Something that Alec hardly considered as he continued, "Zafir's coven disregards the Volturi's influence and the laws of our world. In his leader's name, he demanded the Volturi abdicate from power and threatened war if the Masters did not agree."

"Talk about guts." Emmett received several disapproving looks from his family. But, he didn't know how right he was, and Alec chose not to share the details. Instead, he charged back against Emmett's minimisation.

"He praised his leader, Razin, and espoused falsities that romanticized a time before the Volturi established peace."My first introduction to the story of the Romanians was that their reign was characterized by absolute control over humans and vampires alike. I could see the appeal – at least, from a movie villain's perspective. But in actual practice?

Jasper frowned, "that explains why Razin would be working with the Romanians."

"He's radicalizing vampires." Carlisle deducted with great disturbance and intrigue. Deep lines appeared on his forehead as his eyebrows furrowed in deep thought. He leaned forward, inquiring, "what else do you know about him?"

Alec's face darkened. "Not enough." He clenched his jaw, hating to confess to anything less than the eminence of his coven. "Using the information Aro collected from Zafir, we have tracked down other followers. All of whom exhibited the same blind loyalty to Razin but knew nothing of his location."

With a snarky tone, Rosalie challenged, "how do you know they weren't lying to you?"

Alec spared her less than a second with a glare to remind her who she was speaking to and what he was capable of. And for a moment, I shared his superiority as she glanced at her husband in her moment of weakness. Guilt quickly followed. I genuinely liked Rosalie, and the idea that I could revel in her fear almost made me sick.

"Had we known the Romanians were involved, we may have responded with more haste. We did not consider this threat truly credible until Aro received a letter from Huda," Carlisle nodded at the name. "She had heard whispers among nomads who shared similar beliefs but had not dared to challenge the Volturi's laws."

Esme chimed in for the first time, her voice sweet and contrasting to the entire conversation. "Which is why he sent you here."

The Prince nodded. "The Masters are…consulting with our allies for any information they may have come across." This was one of the most Mob/High-class crime family sentences that Alec had ever said, and I couldn't even enjoy it.

The Cullens exchanged looks, doubting Alec's claim before someone stated, "you're hiding her." There was no doubt they were talking about me. It was much less of an accusation than I would have expected, the tone more one of understanding.

There was a pause, and I hardly noticed that I was holding my breath for the answer.

"For as long as we are able," Alec confessed, his eyes moving to me. "While Razin and his coven are aware of Saffiya, it appears that others remain in the dark. Though, Razin has already tried to use her to their advantage."

Jasper put it together first. "That's why Vladimir thought he could best you."

"Yes," Alec said. "Now, I have just been informed that the attempt was not originally Vladimir's plan – but Razin's." I sat a little straighter. "Prosper has discovered that Razin had planned to overtake us during our return to Volterra, but Vladimir grew impatient. Had the Romanian not attacked us, we would have been unprepared for Razin's greater numbers." His so-called Resistance.

"Where is Stefan in all of this?" Carlisle questioned.

"Unaccounted for." Alec threw in, annoyed with the name. "But the attack on Prosper was a blessing in disguise." Attack on Prosper? I was almost worried, but Alec had already told us that this was Prosper's information. Which meant he was okay. That he was in Volterra. I released a breath for my friend.

"How is that?"

"Razin did not consider my sister and me to be a threat to his plans. Now we know why."

It was Emmett who said it aloud. "Because he intended to kill you."

Alec's eyes met mine, and my lips parted as he admitted. "Aye." Because I made him vulnerable. I'd been led to believe it was always going to be the other way around, but that assumed he was invincible. Which, despite his pride, he was not.

Emmett continued with his carefree and eager but blunt affect, "why is this good news, again?"

Alec tore his eyes from mine, still visibly frustrated with his role and sharing inside information with a coven he despised on principle. "Prosper's discovery has given us our first advantage over our enemy. Vladimir's disobedience has heightened our defences, something Razin believes has made his plan obsolete."

Jasper's strategic commentary added in, "he'd be right. And if the rest of his plan to overthrow the Volturi relied on the assumption that Alec would no longer be a factor, then he's going to need a new one."

A lighter voice added, "which would take time."

The soldier reluctantly contradicted his wife, "but we still do not know his end goal. There must be a reason he was arrogant enough to announce his intentions if his plan was not infallible."

The Volturi member confirmed, "this is the question that prompted Aro's request." He addressed Alice.

Jasper shifted, almost as if doing so was protecting his wife from an invisible danger. "Which is?"

Alec ignored Jasper, asking, "is it possible to track Razin's decisions, perhaps even his location with your gift?"

"I could try." Alice hesitated, "it's not easy, but I've done it before."

"That you attempt to do so is all we ask."

Alice nodded her head slowly, "I'll do my best."

Someone asked Alec another question, but my ears were growing clouded, my head spinning. The environment, the atmosphere was suffocating. But, this was good news. We finally won one over on Razin and his Resistance. We weren't in the clear, but the unknown was far more complicated to fight than a faltered enemy. This was excellent news. So, why did I feel so uneasy?

"Excuse me," I stood abruptly, and Alec flinched as if to move and protect me from something he couldn't see, identical to Jasper's actions for Alice only moments ago. We were learning. He stopped himself as I made my way past Rosalie and through the middle of the makeshift circle to exit the room.

"Give her a minute," I heard from behind me. Then, "what happened on the train?"

I just needed to breathe.

I didn't go far, choosing to return to the previous room we'd occupied. I picked up my abandoned paintbrush and opened the book to Alice's page. She had chosen Starry Night over the Rhone, van Gogh's first version of the painting that was so famous today. I had little need to study the image, having some experience recreating it (although never on a wall). But I needed a moment.

I was going to need more colours. The blues contribute to the scene below the sky as a base for the orange, yellow, and even green. I stared at the couple underneath the street light in the picture. They were ordinary people. No vampire world with threats around every corner, full of other vampires that would love to see me suffer for grievances I was not responsible for. All because 'fate' decided the trouble was worth pairing a vampire with a human for all eternity, both promising and threatening eternity. For a second time, apparently.

Trouble, I had to admit, that I also brought along. I had created the circumstances for Travis to remain in our lives, purposefully or not. I picked a different brush size and put it in my back pocket, an old habit. I stepped on the ladder to return to where I'd left off in the leftish centre of the wall.

The memory of what had happened on the train was fresher than I thought. With everything going on, especially with Alec, I hadn't the time to replay it in my mind from start to finish. Not that I wanted to. Quite the opposite. I had been more worried about Alec at the time, especially if they overpowered him, which they did.

What I had not revisited was the time before Alec arrived. The sight of Travis had been enough, and a flash of his face nearly sent me off the ladder. Was this fear? Fear for what, exactly? I had to take a deep breath to calm my quickly increasing heart rate before someone came to check on me. Clearly, it was best not to recall the event.

I missed the atmosphere of the Volturi's castle, dark and morbid as it was. I was attached to the individuals there that had entered my life, and it'd only been a few months. I wasn't sure if it was a good development or a bad one because, technically, they had kidnapped me. The betrayal of the nuns still stung with the hurt of a child, and though I would have liked to travel more than I had in the last few months, I had nowhere to return to. My father was gone, and whether I liked it or not, Volterra and the vampires residing there had become as close to a home as I had. Fate, destiny or whatever you wanted to call it, was working overtime for this. Good, I thought.

I had a visitor. My head tilted up to look over my shoulder, but his eyes weren't on me. They were taking in what I'd painted so far. I continued my work while he observed the wall, determined to finish sooner rather than later.

"It looks familiar." As if he didn't know.

I smiled, "don't tell. Alice is determined to keep it a secret."

Silence. Then, "you have an extraordinary talent, Tesoro." [Darling]

"Thank you." I brushed the compliment off, trying not to let it feed my already inflated ego on the subject. "Chalk it up to practice."

"My superior vision," the arrogance on this boy, "allows me to see every detail, every brushstroke that you have made." I breathed out a laugh, facing the painted wall as well. "Extraordinary is a reaction."

My brush continued along as I teased him, "then, I should avoid distractions. Seeing as it is meant for the viewing of vampires."

"You will see it as we do, one day soon."

The smile slowly fell from my face, and I kept my eyes on the wall so Alec wouldn't notice. "Felix and Demetri are finishing business elsewhere but will arrive to escort us back to Volterra within a few days."

"Just Felix and Demetri?"

I knew he wouldn't want to delve into the details, and he shook his head to confirm that the two men would not be coming alone. Just in case Razin did try anything. Another rabbit hole I didn't dare explore.

"Is Prosper going to be okay?" I asked him, now focusing on the minor details of every purposeful swipe of the paint.

"I was not apprised of anything to indicate otherwise."

I rolled my eyes and shot him a half glare over my shoulder. "You didn't think to ask?"

He shrugged, so oblivious to my point that it was almost endearing. Alec lifted a hand as if to touch the paint on the wall, and I smacked it away. He smirked, stepping closer to the ladder, but I did my best to ignore the petulant behaviour.

"Did he find Elizabeth?"

"That," he assured me, "they would have mentioned." I frowned, biting my lip as Alec turned around as if to leave the room. While disappointed, I didn't check to see. This is why, after a short while of silence, when a hand brushed against my lower back, my heart shot. I spun around and nearly set the ladder off balance.

Both Alec's hands had a firm hold on my hips, a light pressure that steadied me. His eyes were wide with surprise, but the longer he stared at my face, the more his expression feared the worst. I blinked, stepping off the stairs as Alec released me. His gaze was fixed on me, and I wanted to avoid the speculative look. Only we came chest to chest, and my eyes immediately dropped to his lips. Where I spotted the dark blue streak of paint across his jaw.

I snorted, covering my mouth to hide the bubble of laughter that burst out at the sight.

Alec tilted his head to the side, confusion dazzling his features as he tried to make sense of my complete shift in mood. I bit my lip a little harder than I probably should've in an attempt to quell the giggles long enough to run a finger across his jaw and show him the paint.

"Oops," I said, immediately bursting into another round of raucous laughter. Until my brush was swiped from my hand, and an arm tugged me back into Alec's chest. I was still laughing when the smooth bristles of the brush caressed the bridge of my forehead to the tip of my nose. I gasped and tried to break from his grasp. I squirmed in his arms to no avail, leftover giggles still escaping me as I complained, "not fair!"

His arm disappeared as soon as I willed it, and I wiped my hand over my face as if that was a good idea to get rid of the paint. A genuine, full smile broke out of Alec's face at my foolishness and his shoulders began to shake. My jaw dropped, offended and irritated that my fun got turned around on me. I looked down at my hand, covered in the paint and tried to hide my grin.

Alec came towards me, still teasing but ready to make peace. I turned my hand just a second too soon, and I was caught – literally. He smirked, and the butterflies in my stomach made a comeback. He intertwined my painted hand with his and leaned in to press a sweet kiss to my lips.

The serious conversations that had previously engulfed us were forgotten, if only for a few bouts of shared laughter.

He pulled away, and I frowned at the tingle on the inside of my forearm. I glanced down to see a line of fresh paint that ran up from my wrist along the inside of my arm.

And the immaturity that followed, is why Alice banned Alec from the paint room.

Looking back, dear Reader, I wish I'd cherished it more. Especially him. Before everything turned to hell in a handbasket.

~•~•~•~

A very special thanks to Wattpad user TheOneThatHates and fanfiction user HemillyJc for helping me double check the chapter. They definitely helped move the process along faster!

I hope this chapter answered some questions for everyone, and it probably even raised more. Next chapter is written, I just want to add more to it. So keep an eye out.

I miss the Volturi (like a lot) so I'm sure you all do too! The end of part one will mark the return to Volterra and a farewell to the Cullens, I promise.

Sending love and prayers to Ukraine.

Ro

Thank you to everyone for all the reviews, follows, and faves! As always, I love to see your thought processes!

Guest: Never apologise for leaving a long review or asking questions! It can just be hard to make sure I answer them all so I'll do my best :D

First off: Yes! Saffiya's reaction to Jane's gift would be very similar to a placebo effect. I was working on a research project while outlining the plot, which is where the idea originated from.

Saffiya's name is Arabic, and spelled many different ways (refer to Safiya). Depending on your dialect or where you're from, I'm not sure how to confirm pronunciation. Let's gamble on it. Technically, it should sound like Sah-fee-ya, but when I get lazy it'll sound more like Suh-fee-ya. Essentially, there's more emphasis placed on the beginning of her name than the end. I will say though, that when Alec's frustrated with her, I definitely have him using it the first way when I'm writing it aloud. Does that make sense?

On Alec taking her pain away. I've had this question a few times, usually early on. It has been touched on in the story a few times since but if you still have this question, I have an answer. It's not brief and it's rather dark. That being said, if people are still curious, I can post my answer on my Wattpad profile and you can see my process for it.